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Book Review of Permanent Obscurity: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death

reviewed on
Helpful Score: 4


Permanent Obscurity is an interesting tale of two drug-addicted artists in New York City, searching for a way to make a living, and escape their mounting creditors, through their art. What do they decide to try? Making pornography, of course! After Serena has a rough experience of her own in the business, she and her best friend (and the book's narrator) Dolores set out to make their own fem-dom fetish video.

Of course, things go progressively wrong for the girls. With a slew of characters after them and very little right going for them, the two girls try to make things work any way they can, up to scamming, stealing, and even gun play. Finally, though, they have their equipment, their script, their actors all lined up. It's time to shoot. Now everything will be okay, right? Right?

This is a gritty look at some of New York City's less glamorous aspects, written with humor and style. With a heavy drug and sex content, it may not be to everyone's liking, but the book stops short of being pornographic in its own right. The writing and format of the book make it an interesting read.